Mechanism for controlling the tightness of the wrap in a wrapping machine



Dec. 25, 1956 A. A. KOTTMANN MECHANISM FOR CO 2,775,085 NTROLLING THE; TIGHTNESS 0F fig; WRAP IN A WRAPPING MACHINE 6. 19 o 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed Oct.

INVENTOR =2 'I'ARTH UR A. KOTTMAN N BY rh 67 ATTORNEYS Dec. 25, 1956 A. A. KOTTMANN 2,775,035

MECHANISM FOR CONTROLLING THE TIGHTNESS OF THE WRAP IN A WRAPPING MACHINE 6 1950 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Original Filed Oct.

INVENTOR ARTHu A. KOTTMANN ATTORNEYS Dec. 25, 1956 A. A. KOTTMANN 2,775,035

MECHANISM FOR CONTROLLING THE TIGHTNESS 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 OF THE WRAP IN A WRAPPING MACHINE Original Filed OC L 6. 1950 INVENTOR ARTHU R A. KOTTMANN LWN Dec. 25, 1956 A. A. KOTTMANN 2,775,085 MECHANISM FOR CONTROLLING THE TIGHTNESS OF THE WRAP IN A WRAPPING MACHINE Original Filed Oct. 6, 1950 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 9 7 a .W w w .fi. E a m Wmmm m Z INVENTOR ARTHUR A. KOTTMANN BY a r710:

ATTORNEYS United States Patent MECHANISM son CONTROLLING THE TIGHT- tsjnssior THE WRAP IN A WRAPPING MACHINE Arthur A. Kottmann, Davenport, Iowa, assignor, by mesne assignments, to American Machine & Foundry Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of N ew Jersey Ori al application October 6 1950 Serial No. 1238,6556.

D igiiled and this application February 28, 1952, Ser al 6 C a m l. -21

This invention relates to wrapping machines of the type ferred to for regulating the tightness of the wrap on the article, this application being a division of my copending application Serial No. 188,686, filed October 6, 1959 In the machine shown in my copending application,

an elevator moves from a lower receiving position in .alinement with the rear end of an article feed conveyor, to. an upper discharge position in alinement with the rear end of a discharge runway, and the leading and of a web of wrapping material is applied to the bottom and wrapped about the rear side, top and front side of the article during the transfer of the article to the elevator and m ovemeat of the elevator to its uppermost position.

The elevator has a dwell in its uppermost posltron during which the article is moved rearwardly from the ele-- vator onto the discharge runway and, during the transfer of the article from the elevator to the runway, the web is severed below the elevator, the end of the Wrapper that has been severed. from theweb being drawnuagainstfthe bottom of the article during transfer from the elevator .to the discharge runway.

In the article discharging position of the elevator the wrapper is gripped between a roller journaled. in the frame, at the receiving end of the discharge runway. and.

onepor more rollers carried by the elevator. .One of the rollers isefrictionally retarded by suitable means such as a-hnake in order to. cause the said rollers to normally exert a] drag on the wrapper web anddraw it tight against the article being wrapped. In order to decrease thetightnessof the wrapwhen desired, meansis provided: for drivingoneof the said rollersin direction to feed the .web

upwardly toward the article being wrapped before the wrapper web is severed. order to prevent the wrapper from being tightenedon the article after (being severed from, the ,welnthe driving means for the web feeding.

roller may besooperated as to continue the rotationtof the; roller after the web severing operation. and until the article has passed onto the discharge nunway,pthe rotation ofthe roller being at a peripheral speed substantiallyzequal to the linear speed of the article duringitspassage from the. elevator to. the runway so that the rollers exert no drag on the, wrapper after it has been severed from: the

Web. In order to obtain wraps of various. degrees of looseness, means is prcvidedfor controlling. the roller driving means in such manner as to vary the amount of.

rotationof the driven web .feedroller before the movement of the article, to, the discharge, runway is. started;

. ,Qbjects of the invention are to provideaccurate regulati on qf the tightness of the wrap andf-to. provide simple,

Cfrom a reel rack K through a tension easily accessible, manually adjustable means for altering the wrapper feed to provide the desired loosencss in the wrap.

Reference should be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the wrapping machine to which the invention is applied;

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic side elevation of the machine showing the article moving conveyors and the driving mechanism therefor;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary side elevation of the elevator and the overhead discharge conveyor with the elevator in its uppermost position in alinement with the discharge runway;

Fig; 4 is a fragmentary detail View showing the means for adjusting the elevator retracting arm;

Fig 5 is a side elevation of the mechanism for regulating the tightness of the wrap; i i

Fig. 6 is a side elevation on an enlarged scale of the tight and loose Wrap adjusting means;

Fig. 7 is a sectional view taken substantially on the line indicated at 77 in Figs. 5' and 8; i

Fig. 8 is a section taken on the line indicated at 88 in Fig. 7; and

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary sectional view showing the mounting of the rear end of the wrap tightening roller.

In the wrapping machine of the present invention the articles to be wrapped are delivered to the wrapping mechanism by means of an endless pusher flight conveyor A which delivers to a vertically swinging elevator or transfer platform B. The infeeclconveyor A delivers the articles to be wrap, ed onto the elevator B and in passing from the conveyor A to the elevator B the articles engage with the leading end of a web of Wrapping material which is suspended from a drape table C over which the wrappingmaterial is fed.

The feed conveyor A is mounted in an inclined position and delivers the articles from its upper end to the elevator B which moves from an inclined receiving position in alinement with the conveyor A to an upper horizontal position inalinernent with a discharge runway which includes the usual folding and heating section D and cooling section E to complete the wrapping of the article and seal the folds of the wrapper.

The wrapping machine may be conveniently operated in tandem with a bread slicing machine, in which case the slicing machine delivery conveyor G delivers the sliced loaves to the infeed conveyor A of the Wrapping machine to which the sliced loaves are transferred by means of a suitable shuttle mechanism conveyors G and A.

Aweb of wrapping material is fed to the drape table controlled web feed mechanism L. During each wrapping cycle the leading end of the web of wrapping material is suspended between the delivery end of the feed conveyor A and the elevator B where it is engaged by the article to be wrapped and clamped between the article andelevator so that a pull is exerted on the web which causes actuation ofthe feed mechanism to supply the length of web needed for. wrapping the article.

The article being wrapped is discharged from the elevator and moved through the folding and sealing sections of the discharge runway by means of an overhead endless pusher conveyor M. The bottom of the cooling section E is formed by an endless beltN and the sides by two endless belts P which grip andtravel with the wrapped article during cooling so that lapping portions of the wrapper are held against relative movement while the wax or other adhesive is setting.

Thefeed conveyor A is intermittentlyoriven with a ,dwell during upward movement of the elevator B" and' H interposed between the the elevator is reciprocated with a dwell at its upper and lower limits of movement. The overhead pusher conveyor M and conveyors N and P are continuously driven.

The machine has a frame 1, the top of which is horizontal to provide a support for the article discharge runway.

The machine is driven by an electric motor 2 which continuously drives a main cam shaft 3 and a feed conveyor driving shaft 4 through a sprocket chain 5. A shaft 6 which drives the shuttle mechanism H is driven from the shaft 4 through a sprocket chain 7. The overhead pusher conveyor M is driven from the shaft 3 through a sprocket chain 8 and a sprocket 9 that operates the web feed mechanism L is driven from the shaft 3 through a sprocket chain 10. The belt N is driven by the sprocket chain 10 through gears 11 and the belts P are driven by the endless pusher conveyor M through bevel gears 12. When the wrapping machine is operated in tandem with a slicing machine the slicing machine and its discharge conveyor G are driven from the shaft 6 by a sprocket chain 13.

In order to avoid slack between the article being wrapped and the web feed mechanism and in order to reduce slack and obtain more uniform control of the web feed to articles varying in height, the drape table C is adjustably mounted so that its upper end can be'positioned at different distances above the discharge end of the infeed conveyor A so as to obtain a more direct pull on the paper and a better regulation of the web feed and also to avoid delivery of an excess amount of wrapping material to low articles.

The table C which is mounted directly above the conveyor A, is pivotally and slidably supported at its lower end on a bracket 15 carried by the frame of the machine and is adjustably supported intermediate its ends upon brackets 16 attached to the top portions of the frame 1, the table adjusting mechanism being so designed that an operating connection between the web cutoff mechanism carried by the main frame and paper clamping mechanism carried by the table C is not disturbed by the adjustment:

The machine is so designed that all manually operable adjusting and controlling elements are mounted on the front side of the machine in positions conveniently accessible to an operator standing at the front of the machine. A hand lever 17 mounted on the front end of the frame controls the operation of the feed conveyor A and con veyor G when the slicer is mounted in tandem with the wrapping machine. A handwheel 18 adjacent the rear end of the machine controls the speed of operation of the machine. A handwheel 19 associated with a dial 20 may be adjusted to control the amount of wrapper web drawn out from the drape table prior to the web cutoif to vary the length of the end of the web depending from the upper end of the drape table C and vary the amount of underla'p of the paper at the bottom of the article being wrapped. A handwheel 21 associated with a dial 22 may be adjusted to control the tightness with which the paper is wrapped about an article. Heater control elements 23 are mounted on the top portion of the frame forwardly of the tight-loose wrap control. Adjacent the rear end of the machine a handwheel 24 is provided which operates adjusting screws for adjusting the width of the discharge channel of the machine and simultaneously adjusting other parts of the machine for accommodating articles of different widths.

The feed conveyor A is provided with a transversely flat bed 25 over which the articles to be wrapped are pushed by flights 26 which are carried by endless sprocket chains 27 that run over pairs of sprockets 28 and 29 at the delivery and receiving ends of the bed 25. The pairs of sprockets 28 and 29 are preferably mounted in fixed positions and the chains 27 are tensioned by means of adjustable sprockets 30 below the sprockets 29 at the forward end of the frame.

The conveyor A is driven intermittently and the chains 27 are moved a distance corresponding to the space between successive flights 26 on each actuation, the driving mechanism being so adjusted that the conveyor stops with a flight 26 in substantially vertical position at the discharge end of the conveyor, in which position the article being pushed by the flight at the discharge end of the conveyor has been transferred from the bed 25 to the elevator B, and the flight at the discharge end of the conveyor remains stationary during the initial upward movement of the elevator and does not interfere with the movement of the article with the elevator.

The infeed conveyor A is intermittently driven from the shaft 4 through a Geneva type gearing which includes a drive wheel fixed to the shaft 4 and having two driving pins in the form of rollers 45 which are diametrically opposite each other and at equal distances from the axis of the shaft 4. The rollers 45 engage in radial slots 46 in a Geneva gear 47 to which is attached a spur gear 48 which meshes with a gear 49 on the shaft of the sprockets 28. The gear 47 is provided with four radial slots 46 and is given a quarter turn upon each half revolution of the shaft 4. The gear 47 is provided with peripheral recesses 50 intermediate the slots 46 which are of arcuate contour to receive cylindrical locking segments 51 carried by the drive wheel 44 to lock the gear 47 against turning movements during intervals between actuations thereof by the pins 45.

The sprocket 42 on the shaft 4 is twice the diameter of the sprocket 41 on the shaft 3 so that the shaft 4 rotates at half the speed of the shaft 3. The shaft 3 rotates once during each cycle of operation of the machine and the shaft 4 makes a one-half revolution during each cycle of operation.

The gears 48 and 49 are so proportioned that a movement is imparted to the infeed conveyor A to move the flights a distance exactly equal to the length of the space between them upon each actuation of the conveyor, and the infeed conveyor has one movement during each wrapping cycle to deliver an article to the elevator B each time that the elevator is lowered to a position in alinement with the conveyor.

The sliced loaves of bread or other articles to be wrapped are delivered from the feed conveyor A to a platform on the elevator B, the platform 105 being attached to the forward ends of elongated supporting arms 106 that are connected at their rear ends by pivots 107 to the rocker arms 14 which provide a movable support to which the elevator is pivoted. The arms 106 are connected to the upper ends of the rocker arms 14 and the lower ends of the arms 14 are attached to a horizontal rock shaft 108 journaled in the side members of the frame. During operation of the machine the elevator platform moves from a lower inclined position in. alinernent with the bed 25 of the infeed conveyor to an upper horizontal position in alinernent with the discharge runway. The elevator dwells in its lowermost position until an article is transferred thereto by the infeed conveyor, and moves upwardly during the dwell of the infeed conveyor to deliver the loaf to the discharge runway. The elevator has intermittent oscillating movement timed with respect to the movement of the infeed conveyor flights 26 so that the elevator is positioned to receive articles pushed by the flights 26 during each advancing ported to be moved away from the infeed conveyor flight v and away from the end of the drape table C so that tension is maintained on the wrapper web and engagement of articles being wrapped with parts of the paper supporting members and with the discharge runway is prevented.

Springs 109 attached at their rear ends to the rocker. arms, 14 and at their forward ends to the frame of the anne s ma hine serve tcy h ah use t e le t r war its vforward res ded Th machine frame has a hc ilcn el c o s a .1 a he ear ehd th reof upon which icmchh a e i brack t 11 wh ch i l ce cs ubstantially midway h w en he ends of h e 10- The br cket ppo t a piv 2 upon w ic is mchnt d a v r 1 3 which ext nds wa ly r m e pi .112.- The ce Wa d e d f he; ev 113 is Pivotally conne e o h lo e nd f upwa ly diverging li ks 14. n t upper ends of the links 114 are pivotally connected to ajhori zontal cross rod 115 connecting the elevator arms 106. 1

n actua n cam 16 fixe 1c t ca Shaft 3 ceives a roller 117 attached to the lever 113, the cam 116 being provided with a groove 118 in which the roller 117 travels. The cam groove 118 is formed to oscillate the ele tc it as ap r pria e d el a it uppe n cw limits c Incveme t Ah v t t ac n le e 20 pi o ed t he r lhc he of he e e 1. c r s a l e .1. th he rs hP h th p phery f h 1. 2, att ch d o th sh t and a p ing .1 3 a t a ng o e leve .20 h l h te er 12. in en a ement with he 122-. he le r 1 .0. h a roller 12 1 at its uppe end whic e a w th n arm 125 attached to the rock shaft 108.

The elevator retracting mechanism is positively actuated by the lever 120 to move. the eleyator rearwardly, but the elevator is moved forwardly by the springs. 109 wh h o ma P s h m 5 a a nst th rol r 1 but which permit separation of the roller 1 24 and arm 125 when the iorwai-d movement of the elevator is pededhe p n .1 1 else y ldih v pr s h e evete reward he d s ha e u y d in dis ha e of articles to the runway to maintain yielding engagement between rigidly mounted web feed rollers "176 and 215 on the elevator and the discharge runway as will be hereinafter more fully explained.

In order ,to properly position the elevator in its loading and unloading positions, the arm 125 is provided as shown in Fig. 4 with an adj ustable abutment'in the form of a screw 12.6 which is engaged by the roller 124. By means of the adjustable abutment 126 the position of the platform 105 when alined with the feed conveyor bed may be regulated and sufiicient lost motion may be provided between the arm 125 and lever 120 to provide yielding pressure for the .web feed rollers 176 and 215.

As shown in Fig. 3, the drape table C is provided with ap air of web guiding rollers 134 and 135 at the rear end thereof. The wrapper web is advanced while the elevator is in its uppermost position, so. that the end of the wrapping paper strip that is severed from the wrapllr on he article being wrapped will hang in the space between the elevator platform and bed 25 of the .infeed conveyor when the elevator platform is returned to its lowermost position. AS the infeed conveyor moves the artiele to be r pped across the g p b t ee th b hd th platform 105 the article is pushed into the depending end of the wrapper web and the portion of the web depending below the elevator platform is drawn onto the platform between the bottom of the article and the surface of the platform.

In order to clamp the leading end of the web to the article being wrapped, a follower 1-36 is provided on the elevator platform which is mounted to move forwardly and rearwardly on the platform. The forward article engaging end of the follower 136 extends transversely across the elevator platform and slides .rearwardly on-the platform as an article is pushed onto the platform by a flight 26.

As the article to be wrapped is transferred to the elevator platform from the bed 25' the wrapper web is folded against the endsof the article by means of tucker pla e 14. wh c e g e with. he cp cc t ed e per me .e the w to .I cld th w ov the nd ,e th

ar icle shar n tenement f th ar cl c ic. the e ev te? Th tucker Plat 4.8 re m unted f r atera ewih i s movements and are so operated that they close upon thd ends oi the article being wrapped during moveme t the article onto the elevator.

One or more idler rollers 176are provided beneath the front edge of the platform and a shear bar underlies the rollers 176.

As shown in Fig, 3, the elevator platform 105 alined with the discharge runway D when the elevator is in its uppermost position, and the article on the elevator is moved from the elevator platform onto the discharge runway by means of the endless conveyor M which has pusher plates 21!) carried by arms 211 that are s ns: pended from endless sprocket chains 212 mounted above and parallel to the discharge runway. The sprocket chains 212 run over rear sprockets 213 that are positioned directly above the elevator, the sprockets 21.3 being attached to a horizontal cross shaft 214 that is driven from the cam shaft 3 by the sprocket chain 8. The end; less pusher conveyor M above the discharge runway thus continuously driven during the operation of the machine and the movement of the pushers is timed with respect to the operation of the elevator so as to dis: charge each article from the elevator to the discharge mun way during the dwell of the elevator in its uppermost position.

At the end of the discharge runway, immediately adjacent the elevator, a paper feed roller 215 is provided against which the rollers 176 on the elevator are pressed by the springs 109 and which may be driven during a portion of the movement of the article from the elevator to the discharge runway to regulate the tightness of ,the wrapper. The abutment screw 126 is adjusted to allow a forward movement of the elevator slightly greater than that required to permit the rollers 176 to engage the roller 215. As the elevator approaches its uppermost position it is cammcd rearwardly by the engagement of the rollers 176 with the roller 215 and, during the dwell of the elevator in its uppermost position, the springs,

109 yieldingly press the idler rollers 176 against the roller 215 so that the wrapper web can be advanced by rotation of the roller 215.

During the transfer of the article to he wrapped from the feed conveyor to the elevator platform and during upward movement of the elevator, a pull is exerted upon the wrapper web, which, after the slack is taken up, automatically starts the Web feed mechanism to feed the bottom of the article during passage of the articleover.

the roller 215.

The paper cut-01f mechanism includes the shear bar 178 fixed to the under side of the elevator platform against which the rear face of the paperweb engages.

when the elevator is moved to its uppermost position, and a rearwardly movable knife blade 216 that engages with the front face of the paper web and moves across the top edge of the bar 1'78 to sever the web. The blade.

216 is carried at the upper ends of a arms 217 pivoted to the machine frame.

The cutter blade 216 is actuated by a connecting rod pair of swinging 225 to sever the wrapper web a short distance below the web gripping rollers 176 and 215 during the discharge .of

the article from the elevator.

In order to feed enough of the wrapper web .pastthe drape table C prior to severance of the web .to cause the leading end of the web to beldraped across the upper end of the'bed 25'of the feed conveyor and to regulate the feed to cause the web to extend below the bed the distance required to provide the desired underlap beneath the article when the web is clamped thereto on the elevator, means is provided for automatically causing the desired length of paper to be fed past the upper end of the drape table prior to severing the web. The web feed is controlled to supply the drape by means of a tension applying roller 254 that is supported in horizontal position between the upper ends of two curved arms 255 which are positioned immediately within the side members of the machine frame 1 in the space between the side members and the conveyor A, elevator B and drape table C. The roller 254 is normally supported forwardly of the rear edge of the discharge runway so as to be clear of the paper web when it is drawn upwardly to the position shown in full lines in Fig. 3.

In order to enable the articles to be transferred from the elevator to the discharge runway by means of the continuously driven overhead conveyor M which moves the articles at the desired speed through the folding and sealing channels, means is provided for accelerating the movement of the pushers 210 during their travel across the elevator platform and then decelerating their movement in order to discharge the article on the platform during the small portion of the wrapping cycle in which the platform is alined with the dlischarge runway, and then moving the articles below normal speed during a portion of their travel through the folding channel. These accelerating and decelerating movements are caused by imparting a forward swinging movement to the pusher supporting arms 211 past their normal position during their engagement with the article on the elevator platform followed by a rearward swinging movement back to normal position. The arms 211 have short end portions 260 adjacent the chains 212 that extend at substantially right angles thereto, the end portions 260 being connected to the chains 212 by pivots 261. The arms 211 are arranged in pairs which are transversely alined, the transversely alined arms 211 being attached to the front and rear chains 212 and being disposed upon the inner sides of the chains 212.

The pusher arms 211 have rollers 262 at the bends thereof which are guided around the rear sprockets 213 and along the bottom run of the chains in slots 263. The portion of the cam slots 263 below and to the rear of the shaft 214 is deflected upwardly at 264 towards the shaft 214 to swing the pusher arms 211 rearwardly and bring them to substantially vertical position over the rear edge of the elevator platform. During movement of the pusher plates 210 across the elevator platform the arms 211 are swung forwardly past their normal position to increase the speed of the pusher plates and effect a rapid transfer of the article being wrapped to the discharge runway after which the arms are swung rearwardly to their normal position which results in a reduction of speed of the article in the entrance end of the folding section. The pusher arms 211 are first swung rearwardly by the shifting of the arm supporting rollers 262 to positions above the chains 212 in upwardly deflected portions 264 of the cam slots 263. The forward swinging movement of the arms is accomplished by shifting the rollers 262 to positions in horizontal alinement with the sprocket chains 212,'the rates of acceleration and deceleration being dependent upon the relative inclinations of the chain guides and cam grooves. During the pivotal movements of the pusher arms 211 the sprocket chains 212 and arm sup porting rollers 262 are so guided that the lower ends of the arms 211 travel substantially horizontally. The lower'runs of the chains 212 are supported on guide bars 265 that have beveled rear ends 266 that underlie the sprockets 213 and deflect'the chains upwardly at the beginning of the forward swinging movement of the pusher arms to offset the downward movement of the pusher plates with respect to the point of attachment of the arms 211 to the chains 212. Forwardly of the beveled portion 266 of the chain guide the cam grooves 263 have portions 267 deflected downwardly to cause the arms 211, to swing forwardly past their normal positions. The conveyor chains 212 are driven at a speed such that they move a distance corresponding to the distance between successive pusher arms 211 during each wrapping cycle. By means of the cam grooves and chain guides the pushers 210 are caused to move across the elevator platform at a speed greater than the speed of the conveyor chains to transfer the article from the elevator during the small portion of the wrapping cycle that the platform dwells in alinement with the discharge runway. The accelerated movement of the arms 211 is followed by a decelerated movement which causes the article to move relatively slowly in the discharge runway until the arms 211 resume their normal position.

During the passage of the article from the elevator platform over the roller 215 onto the discharge runway the wrapper is drawn between the rollers 176 and 215 and is normally pulled quite tightly about the article. In wrapping soft articles such as sliced bread loaves, cakes or the like, it is desirable to provide a looser wrap. In order to relax tension on the wrapper and to cause the wrapper to more loosely engage the article a mechanism is provided by which the roller 215 may be turned in a direction to feed the wrapper web forwardly with the article during the transferring movement of the article from the elevator to the discharge runway. The roller 215 may be driven to feed the web during a portion of the movement of the article from the elevator during the entire time of the transfer, and if desired the feed may be started before the article begins to move off the elevator.

For intermittently imparting turning movements to the roller 215 a small gear 274 is attached to one end of the roller 215 and meshes with a large gear 275 that is rotatably mounted on a shaft 276 and attached to a ratchet 277 that is intermittently actuated in a counter-clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 8 by means of a spring pressed pawl 278 mounted on an oscillating arm 279 mounted on the shaft 276. The arm 279 is oscillated by a connecting rod 280 that is attached at its forward end to the arm 279 and at its rear end to a lever arm 281 attached to a rock shaft 282 journaled in a bracket 283 on the frame crossbar 110 at the rear end of the machine. The rock shaft 282 has a second lever arm 284 attached thereto and carry-ing a roller 285 that bears against the periphery of a cam 286 on the cam shaft 3, the roller 285 being held in engagement with the periphery of the cam by a spring 287 connected at its lower end to the arm 284 and anchored at its upper end to the rock shaft 108.

The movement of the article from the elevator platform over the roller 215 tends to turn the roller in a clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 6, and such rotation will turn the ratchet 277 in a counter-clockwise direction, which movement is not resisted by the pawl 278. Thus, if the ratchet is not positively actuated in the counter-clockwise direction by the pawl during the movement of the article from the elevator to the discharge runway, the article being wrapped will draw the wrapper web between the rollers 215 and 176 and the tension on the web may cause the main web feed mechanism to operate to advance the web somewhat prior to the cut-off. In any event, the paper will be drawn quite tightly around the article. When it is desired to more loosely wrap the article, the ratchet 277 may be actuated during the portion of the movement of the article by the cam 286 to positively drive the roller 215 and advance the wrapper web. For a loose wrap the rotation of the roller 215 by the ratchet mechanism starts before the transfer movement of the article being wrapped and before the web cut-off in such manner that the excess paper is fed to the article and the'wrapper and article are then moved simul-' taneously over the roller 215. Since the article is moved quite rapidly from the elevator to the discharge runway,

am n

it is desirable to retard rotation of the roller 215 in order to prevent its overrunning and to provide more positivea guard disk 290 which has a segment 291 of slightly greater diameter than; the ratchet 277 which provides a peripheral surface for holding the pawl 278 clear of the ratchet teeth. The disk 290 is ang'ularly adjustable about the axis of the ratchet to change the position of the segment 291, so that the pawl 278 may be caused to ride on the segment 291 during a portion of its travel with the arm 279 or during its entire travel. The segment 291 ofthe guard disk can be positioned to hold the pawl out of ratchet engaging position when the arm 279 is in its rearrnost or retracted position and may be adjusted to hold the ratchet out during as much of its forward stroke as desired, During the forward movement of the arm 279 the pawl rides off the end of the projecting portion 291 of the guard disk and engages a tooth of the ratchet imparting a turning movement to the ratchet during the final portion of the stroke of the arm 279. By adjusting the disk 290 the extent oi angular movement imparted to the ratchet and to the roller 215 upon each stroke of thc arm 279 may .be varied. By increasing the turning movement .of the ratchet during each cycle more of the wrapper "web is advanced by the roller 215 and a looser wrap is produced, the looseness of the wnap being regulated by the adjustment of the guard disk 290.

.If th uard d k i adju te to a position t prevent ac u ion of e roller 215 y the am 2%, the rollers 17'6 an 5 will imp s a dra on h w appe du o the action of the brake 288, to tighten the wrap. By adi mea of t ha dwh 2 the desir d tightness or w en ss m h ob ain d.

The shaft 275 on which the gear .275 and ratchet 2'77 arem unted re iews thr u e t o t a e 1 and has a d 2 3 i ly a ch d t to n e g n the outer ,fac of the fna-me member 1. The disk ZSfiis fixed to the frame member 1 and has an arcuate slot 294, h sh s ei es a s n 2 that is at rehad t th h ndh l 2.1 The p n 29 eng ge a socket mem er at a hed to th di k 2 tha h d sk 12 9 turns W h thelhandwheel 21. Ihe handwheel 21 has a pointer 29?? tha mg e o e he dial 22 to nd cat he dju me of hepaw1 gua d 2 10 f r tigh mediu a d l ose W aps. 11 han w l 2 is ecured in esti a ed po s by means of a lock nut 298 threaded on=the outer end of the a shettsha fifi- A Wa he 299 key d, to th shaft 27 i in erposed between the lo k u and h han whec 21- .The roller 215 .is journaled in ball bearings 300 at the rear of the machine which are mounted in a removable blQQ 3.01 which permits the roller to be withdrawn through the rear side of the frame.

In order to provide accurate control of the web feed to obtain the desired tightness of wrap, the feed roller 21.5 s s a tuated tha ithas a pe pheral sp ed whi substantially equals the linear speed of the article being wrapped during its passage over the roller. The pushers 210 are actuated in such manner as to move the articles off the elevator onto the discharge runway at a speed which is a lerated and decelerated during movement of the article over the rol1cr215, the cam 286 being shaped to move the ratchet arm 279 at speeds such that in every portion of the forward stroke in which it is connected to the roller 215 it will maintain theperipheral speed of the rollerat the linear speed of anarticle passing over it and,-since the stroke of the arm 279 is such that the article has passed over the roller 215 before the roller stops, there is, substantially no slip between the wrapper web and the roller 215. As much excess wrapper weh may be fed as desired before the article reaches the roller 215 and during passage of the article over the roller 215 the excess web is retained because of the fact that the portion of the Web between the article and the roller does not slip with respectto the roller.

It is to be understood that in accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, variations and modifications of the specific devices herein shown and described may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. In a wrapping machine of the type having an article feed runway,an article discharge runway and wrapping mechanism for clamping the leading end of a Web of wrapping material to the article, transferring the article from the feed runway to the discharge runway and wrapping the web about the article during the transfer, means operating to feed from a source of supply a length of web suffi cient to closely wrap the article, means adjacent said discharge runway for tightening or loosening the wrap comprising a pair of rollers between which the web is gripped, a friction brake retarding rotation of one of said rollers to impose a drag on the web during the initial portion of the advancement of the article over the rollers to the discharge runway, and intermittently operated driving means for automatically imparting a turning movement to one of said rollers in a direction to ad Vance the web toward the article about which the web is wrapped and at a speed sufiicient to relieve tension on the web during the final portion of said advancement.

2. In a wrapping machine of the type having an article feed runway, an article discharge runway and wrapping mechanism for clamping the leading end of a web of wrapping material to the article, transferring the article from the feed runway to the discharge runway and wrapping the web about the article during the transfer, means operating to feed from a source of supply a length of web sufficient to closely wrap the article, means adjacent said discharge runway for tightening or loosening the wrap comprising a pair of rollers between which the web is gripped, a friction brake retarding rotation of one of said rollers and normally imposing a drag on the web, intermittently operated means for automatically imparting a turning movement to one of said rollers in a direction to advance the web toward the article about which the web is wrapped and at a speed suflicient to relieve tension on the web during the final portion of the advancement of the article over the rollers to the discharge runway, and means for varying: the angular extent of the turning movement imparted to the latter roller.

in a Wrapping machine of the type having an article feed runway, an article discharge runway and wrapping mechanism for clamping the leading end of a web of wrapping material to the article, transferring the article from the feed runway to the discharge runway and wrapping the web about the article during the transfer, means operating to feed from a source of supply a length of web sufiicient to closely wrap the article, means adjacent said disoharge runway for tightening or loosening the wrap comprising a pair of rollers between which the Web is gripped, a friction brake retarding rotation of one of said rollers to impose a drag on the web, means for intermittently imparting a turning movement to one of said rollers in a direction to advance the web toward the article about which the web is wrapped to relieve tension on the web during the final portion of the advancement of the article overthe rollers to the discharge runway comprising a ratchet geared to said roller and an oscillating driver "having a pawl engaging said ratchet during movement of the driver in ,one direction to turn said 11 roller in a direction to advance said web toward said article, means for oscillating said driver, means for varying the extent of said turning movement imparted to said ratchet by said driver upon each oscillation thereof comprising a guard member for holding the pawl out of engagement with the ratchet during the initial portion of the movement of said driver in said one direction, and means for adjusting said guard member to increase or decrease the amount of movement of said driver in said one direction prior to engagement of said pawl with said ratchet.

4. In a wrapping machine having an article feed runway, an article discharge runway, an elevator, wrapper web feeding means, means for moving an article from the feed runway to the elevator, means for clamping the leading edge of the web to the article on the elevator and for moving the elevator to a position in alinement with the discharge runway to wrap the web about the article, a web feed roller at the receiving end of the discharge runway, an idle roller on the elevator for pressing the web against said feed roller, a pusher movable across said elevator andover said feed roller for moving an article from the elevator and over said feed roller to the discharge runway, means for actuating said pusher, a ratchet mechanism for intermittently turning said feed roller in a direction to feed the web in the direction of movement of the article, and means for automatically actuating said mechanism to move said feed roller at a peripheral speed substantially equal to the speed of said pusher during the final portion of the movement of the article being wrapped from the elevator to said runway, and a brake acting on said feed roller to retard turning movements thereof during the initial portion of said movement of the article.

5. In a wrapping machine having a frame providing an article discharge runway and an article feed runway beneath said discharge runway, an elevator movable from a position in alinement with the rear end of the feed runway to a position in alinement with the rear end of the discharge runway, means for feeding a wrapper web rearwardly between said runways and for draping the leading end of the web between the feed runway and elevator, means for moving an article from said feed runway into engagement with the web and onto the elevator and for holding the leading end of the wrapper web against the bottom and rear side of the article on the elevator, means for moving the elevator upwardly into alinement with said discharge runway to wrap the web over the top and front side of the article, a web feed roller at the receiving end of the discharge runway, an idler roller on the elevator for pressing the web against said feed roller, a brake retarding rotation of one of said rollers and normally exerting a drag on said web, means for moving the article rearwardly from the elevator and over said feed roller onto said discharge runway, means for severing the web below said rollers during discharge of said article from theelevator, and intermittently operable means operable during engagement of said rollers for automatically imparting a turning movement to said web feed roller to advance the web prior to the severing of the web and prior to rearward movement of the article and for turning said feed roller during movement of the article from the elevator to said runway at a peripheral speed substantially equal to the speed of said article to prevent tightening of the web on the article during said movement of the article.

6. In a wrapping machine having a frame providing an article discharge runway and an article feed runway beneath said discharge runway, an elevator movable from a position in alinement with the rear end of the feed runway to a position in alinement with the rear end of the discharge runway, means for feeding a wrapper web rearwardly between said runways and for draping the leading end of the web between the feed runway 'and elevator, means for moving an article from said feed runway into engagement with the web and onto the elevator and for holding the leading end of the wrapper web against the bottom and rear side of the article on the elevator, means for moving the elevator upwardly into alinement with said discharge runway to wrap the web over the top and front side of the article, a web feed roller at the receiving end of the discharge runway, an idler roller on the elevator for pressing the web against said feed roller, a brake retarding rotation of one of said rollers and normally exerting a drag on said web, a pusher movable across the elevator and over said roller for discharging the article from the elevator over said web feed roller to said discharge runway, means for severing said web below said roller to detach the portion of the web forming the wrapper from the web, means for actuating said web severing means and for moving said pusher to discharge the article over said feed roller and past the same onto the discharge runway, and intermittently operated means for automatically driving said web feed roller at a peripheral speed substantially equal to the linear speed of the article during the movement of the article from the elevator to the discharge runway to prevent tightening of the wrapper on the article after it is severed from the web.

7. In a wrapping machine having a frame providing an article discharge runway and an article feed runway beneath said discharge runway, an elevator movable from a position in alinement with the rear end of the feed runway to a position in alinement with the rear end of the discharge runway, means for feeding a wrapper web rearwardly between said runways and for draping the leading end of the web between the feed runway and elevator, means for moving an article from said feed runway into engagement with the web and onto the elevator and for holding the leading end of the wrapper web against the bottom and rear side of the article on the elevator, means for moving the elevator upwardly into alinement with said discharge runway to wrap the web over the top and front side of the article, a web feed roller at the receiving end of the discharge runway, an idler roller on the elevator for pressing the web against said feed roller and past the same, a brake retarding rotation of one of said rollers and normally exerting a drag on said web, means for transferring an article rearwardly from the elevator over said web feed roller to the discharge runway and for varying the linear speed of the article during the transfer, and intermittently operated means for simultaneously driving said web feed roller and for maintaining its peripheral speed substantially squal to the varying linear speed of the article to prevent tightening of the web on said article during said movement of the article.

8. In a wrapping machine having a frame providing a discharge runway, an elevator and means associated with the elevator for placing an article on the elevator, winding the leading end of a wrapper web about the article and moving the elevator upwardly into alinement with said runway with the wrapper web extending downwardly from the article between the elevator and runway, a web feed roller extending across the receiving end of said runway, means on the elevator for pressing the web against said roller, a pusher movable across said elevator and past said feed roller for moving the article from the elevator and over said roller into said runway beyond said roller, means for operating said pusher, means below said roller for severing said web during movement of said article from the elevator to the runway, a pawl and ratchet mechanism having a ratchet wheel geared to said roller and an actuating pawl mounted to oscillate about the axis of said wheel and having a wheel driving stroke during which it turns said wheel to drive said roller in a direction to feed said web upwardly, and means for imparting a driving stroke to said pawl beginning prior to engagement of the pusherwithathe-warticlei and continuing during movement of the article over-said roller and-past the tsame onto said runway, and, for controlling; the speed of, movement of I the pawl to maintain the peripheral speed of the roller substantially; equalto the linear speed, of, the :article, over the rollento prevent tighteninglof the web on the article during itsmovement from the'elevator to the runway.

9 In a wrappingmachinehavingia frame providing a,

discharge runway, ans elevator andymeans associated with" theelevator foiwplacingtan article on the elevator, winding the leading; end of azwrapper web about the article i and moving the elevator: upwardlyinto alinement with said runway, with the wrapper web extending downwardlytfrom the article between the'elevator and runway, a

web feed roller extending across the receiving end of said :runway, means on the elevator for pressing the' web against said roller, a pusher'movable:across said elevator and v past said feed roller forw moving the article from the and ratchet mechanism-having a ratchetwheel geared to i said roller and an actuatingpawl mounted to oscillate about the axis of said wheel andhaving a wheel driving strokeduring which; it turns said wheel to drivesaid rollerin a direction to feed said' web upwardly, means for imparting a driving stroke to said pawl beginning prior to engagement of the pusher with the article and continuing duringmovementofthe article over'said roller and past the sameronto said runway andifor controlling thezspeed of movement to the pawl to maintain= the peripheral speed of the roller substantially equal tothe linear speed of the article over the roller, a memberengageable withsaid pawl for holding it 'out of engagement with :thelratchet during the initial portion of its driving stroke to delay the feed movement of said roller, and means for adjusting said member towvary the" delay period and to vary the length of web: drawn :past said webseveringmeans prior to the movement of said article over said roller.

10. In a wrapping machine having a frame providing a discharge runway, an elevator and means associated with the elevator for placing an article on the elevator, winding the leading end of a wrapper web about the article and moving the elevator upwardly into alinement with said runway with the wrapper web extending downwardly from the article between the elevator and runway, a web feed roller extending across the receiving end of said runway, means on the elevator for pressing the web against said roller, a pusher movable across said elevator and past said feed roller for moving the article from the elevator and over said roller into said runway beyond said roller, means for operating said pusher and for varying its speed during movement of the article over said roller, means below said roller for severing the web during movement of the article over said roller, a pawl and ratchet mechanism having a ratchet wheel geared to said roller and an actuating pawl oscillatable about the axis of the ratchet wheel and having a wheel driving stroke during which it turns the wheel to drive said roller in a direction to feed the web upwardly during movement of the article over said roller and past the same onto said runway, and means for oscillating said pawl including a cam formed to vary the speed of movement of the pawl during its driving stroke to cause variations in the peripheral speed of said roller corresponding to variations in the linear speed of the article as it passes over the roller to prevent tightening or loosening of the web on the article during its movement from said elevator to said runway.

11. In a wrapping machine having a frame providing a discharge runway, an elevator and means associated with thetelevator for placinglran article, onlthe elevator, winding theleadingerid of aywrapperweblabout the article and moving the elevator, upwardly into alinement with said runway with the wrapper webf extending downwardly fromthe article betweentthe elevator andrunway, a web feedaroller extendingacross the receiving end of direction to feed said web upwardly prior to and during movement of the article over said roller and past the same onto said runway, said mechanism comprising a ratchet wheel geared to said roller and, having a shaft journaled in said frame, ant-arm pivoted to said shaft, a spring actuate-d pawl mounted on said arm and engageable with the ratchet wheel periphery upon movement of said arm in one direction, means' for oscillating said arm to impart to said pawl, a driving stroke and a return stroke, a guard member mountedfor movement about the axis of said shaft and havingaportion engageable with the pawl to hold it out of engagement with the ratchet during the initial portion of: said drivinglstroke, andmeans for adjusting said guardmemberto vary the amount of movement imparted to said roller prior to engagement of the article with the roller.

12. l'n a wra'ppingrmachine having a frame providing adischarge runway,nan elevator, means for reciprocating, said elevator with' a dwell in alinement'with said runway,

means operable. duringsaidr dwell for moving partially wrapped articles from the elevator tothe runway, aweb' feed roller positioned: at the receiving:end of saidrunway: and over which; the articleis" moved during said dwell, andimeans for automatically impartinga' turning:

movement tosaid roller during movement ofthe article over saidroller and over said' runway to regulate the tightness ofthe wrap comprising a ratchet' wheel journaled: insaid frame andigeared to saidi roller, an: arm mounted-to swing about the axisof said wheel, a spring actuated pawl carried by said arm, means for oscillating said arm, a guard member having an arcuate peripheral pawl engaging portion for holding said pawl out of engagement with said ratchet, said guard member serving to delay engagement of the pawl with the ratchet, means for adjusting said guard member about the axis of said ratchet to vary the amount of initial angular movement of said arm during which said pawl is held out of engagement with the ratchet wheel comprising a hand wheel mounted on said frame exteriorly and at one side thereof and connected to said guard member to turn therewith, and means including a dial on said frame for indicating positions of angular adjustment of said hand wheel and guard member.

13. In a wrapping machine that has article feeding means, a discharge runway above said feeding means, wrapper web feeding means, means for transferring articles from said feeding means to said runway including an elevator movable from a position to receive articles from said feeding means to a position in alinement with said runway, means for clamping the leading end of said Wrapper web to an article on the elevator and for wrapping the same about the article as the article is moved from said feeding means to said runway, means below the discharge runway for severing the article wrapper from said web during the movement of the article from the elevator to said runway and a pair of web gripping rollers between said severing means and said runway, the combination therewith of a tightness controlling means comprising a brake retarding one of said rollers for imposing a drag on said Web as the article is moved from said elevator to said runway, driving means, and means for automatically connecting said driving means to said last mentioned roller prior to severance of the web to drive the same in a direction to feed the web toward the article and at a speed that will relieve the drag on the web during the final movement of the severed wrapper through the rollers and for automatically disconnecting said driving means from said roller after the severed wrapper has passed said rollers.

14. A wrapping machine as defined in claim 13 in which means is provided for varying the time interval between the connection of the driving means to the roller and the severance of the web.

15. In a wrapping machine having a frame providing a discharge runway, an elevator, means associated with the elevator for placing an article on the elevator, winding the leading end of a wrapper web about the article and moving the elevator upwardly into alinement with said runway with the wrapper web extending downwardly from the article between the elevator and runway, a web feed roller extending across the receiving end of said runway, means on the elevator for pressing the web against said roller, a pusher above the elevator and movable past said roller for moving the article from the elevator over the roller to said runway, driving means, means actuated by said driving means for operating said pusher, and means below said roller and said runway for severing said web during movement of said article from the elevator to the runway, the combination therewith of an adjustable pawl and ratchet mechanism for automatically imparting a turning movement to said roller during the final portion of said movement of the article from the elevator to the runway, said mechanism comprising a ratchet wheel geared to said roller and an actuating pawl mounted to oscillate about the axis of said wheel and having a wheel driving stroke during which it turns said wheel to drive said roller in a direction to feed said web upwardly, and means connected to said driving means independently of said pusher operating means for imparting a driving stroke to said pawl and for controlling the speed of movement of the pawl to maintain the peripheral speed of the roller substantially equal to the linear speed of the article over the roller to prevent tightening of the web on the article during its movement from the elevator to the runway.

16. In awrapping machine/that has article feeding means, a discharge runway above said feeding means, wrapper web feeding means, meansfor transferring articles from said feeding means to said runway including an elevator movable from a lower position to receive articles from said feeding means to an upper position in alinement with said runway, a pair of web gripping rollers adjacent the receiving end of said runway positioned to grip the web below said runway when said elevator is in said upper position means for clamping the leading end of said wrapper web to an article on the elevator and for wrapping the same about the article as the article is moved from said feeding means to said runway, and means below said rollers for severing the article wrapper from said web during the movement of the article from the elevator over said rollers to said runway, the combination therewith of intermittently operated driving means for automatically imparting a turning movement to one of said rollers in a direction to advance the web toward the article about which the web is wrapped at a speed suflicient to relieve tension on the web during the final portion of the movement of the article over said roller and after severance of the web, and means acting on one of said rollers to reduce its speed and thereby imposing a drag on the web during the initial portion of the movement of the article from the elevator toward said runway.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Schrage Aug. 25, 1953 

